Forgiveness Sunday — Vespers — Beginning of the Great Fast

Let us all make haste to humble the flesh by abstinence, as we set out upon the God-given course of the holy Fast; and with prayers and tears let us seek our Lord and Saviour.

The Office of Vespers as served on the evening of Cheesefare Sunday — marking the beginning of the Great Forty-day Fast. At the Great Prokeimenon, the altar cloths and hangings in the temple are changed to those of sombre, Lenten colour; the priest removes his phelonion and dons a dark epitrachelion. Immediately following the prayer “Vouchsafe, O Lord”, we begin to use Lenten melodies in answer to petitions at the Litany of Supplication and in troparia that follow. After the Dismissal, the clergy ask forgiveness of the faithful; the faithful of the clergy; the faithful of one another — so that as one, reconciled community: fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, we might together, with one voice, with one heart, approach the greater reconciliation that we know has come and is coming — the Passover of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — Holy Pascha.

The books include:

Penitential Stichera from the Octoechos (the 8-tone weekly cycle),

the Stichera from the Lenten Triodion,

Troparia with Prostrations,

Prayer of Venerable Ephrem the Syrian,

Prayer at the Beginning of the Great Fast,

a brief description of the Ceremony of Forgiveness that follows the Dismissal.

The font used at the Psalms, prayers and hymns is relatively large (14pt), intended to help preserve the text’s legibility even under low light conditions. The bilingual booklets are 80 pages in total, and are meant to be coil-bound. The monolingual booklets are half that number of pages, and are meant for the more economical saddle-stitch binding option. The two-colour version helps to distinguish the prayers, petitions and ecphoneses of the clergy as well as rubrics — but at a higher printing cost.

A special B&W “Cantor’s edition” at full, 8.5″ x 11″ letter-size and 20pt font is meant to be printed and placed in a binder on a Reader’s lectern.

As always, in everything to do with the worship life of the community — be guided by your Bishop and Priest.